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The Descent of Man

The Descent of Man

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seal, bat, reptile, etc., can at first hardly be distinguished<br />

from each other. In order to understand<br />

the existence <strong>of</strong> rudimentary organs, we<br />

have only to suppose that a former progenitor<br />

possessed the parts in question in a perfect<br />

state, and that under changed habits <strong>of</strong> life they<br />

became greatly reduced, either from simple<br />

disuse, or through the natural selection <strong>of</strong> those<br />

individuals which were least encumbered with<br />

a superfluous part, aided by the other means<br />

previously indicated.<br />

Thus we can understand how it has come to<br />

pass that man and all other vertebrate animals<br />

have been constructed on the same general<br />

model, why they pass through the same early<br />

stages <strong>of</strong> development, and why they retain<br />

certain rudiments in common. Consequently<br />

we ought frankly to admit their community <strong>of</strong><br />

descent: to take any other view, is to admit that<br />

our own structure, and that <strong>of</strong> all the animals<br />

around us, is a mere snare laid to entrap our

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